


Homecoming

by mar_dlr



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, F/M, One Shot, Post-Season/Series 06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 20:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14701947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mar_dlr/pseuds/mar_dlr
Summary: Oliver returns home after six months in prison.





	Homecoming

Oliver knocked on the door of a three-bedroom house on a tree-lined street in Star City. After Felicity and William left ARGUS protective custody she and William moved into this house. It took months of work by Felicity and John but somehow Oliver was released from prison. Now he was home.

The door opened to reveal William. 

“Dad!” William lunged at Oliver and gave him a huge hug.

Oliver couldn’t help the huge smile that came across his face. His son had grown so much since he last saw him. He was so glad to be able to hold his son in his arms again.

“Hey buddy. It’s really good to see you.” Oliver said.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw movement. 

“Felicity.” Oliver breathed. Oh how he had missed her.

He slowly walked towards her, stopping just in front of her.

He smiled softly and took his wife into his arms, engulfing her, burying his nose into her hair, inhaling that scent so unique to her.

But something was off. Felicity didn’t melt into his arms like she usually did when he hugged her. Instead, she held herself stiffly before pulling away from him.

“It’s good to have you back Oliver.” Felicity said in a dull tone.

\----->

Dinner had been awkward to say the least. Felicity hadn’t spoken much and as soon as she finished eating she excused herself, saying she had a lot of work to do. But at least William seemed upbeat. 

Later that night, Oliver settled into bed and waited for Felicity to get out of the bathroom and join him.

When she finally stepped out she picked up her phone and tablet and finally addressed Oliver.

“I am glad that you’re not in prison anymore. I hated that you had to spend even a single second in that place. But I’m angry with you Oliver and I can’t sleep in the same room with you right now.” Felicity said.

“Felicity, what -?” Oliver tried to ask Felicity what she was talking about but she interrupted him.

“I need some time Oliver. So I’m going to be sleeping in the guest bedroom.”

“No, Felicity, I understand that you’re angry with me for making that deal with Watson but there was no other way.” Oliver interjected.

“I understand why you did what you did Oliver. That’s not why I’m angry. Or at least that’s not all of it. Look, I’m tired and I really don’t have the energy to have this conversation with you right now. Good night.” Felicity turned around and left the room, closing the door behind her.

This was not the homecoming Oliver had hoped for.

\----->

It had almost been a week since Oliver’s return and things with Felicity had not improved at all. She was still sleeping in the guest bedroom and had barely spoken to him. In fact, she’d made sure that she was never alone with Oliver. So this morning Oliver decided that it was time to take a first step towards making things right with his wife. And that first step involved making her favourite breakfast: blueberry pancakes.

He had set the table for the three of them. The pancakes were ready along with Felicity’s coffee. He was just putting down a small vase of flowers on the centre of the table when he heard the clicking of heels.

“Good morning. I made breakfast. Blueberry pancakes, your favourite.” Oliver greeted.

“Thanks but I have an early meeting. Are you able to drive William to school?” Felicity asked flatly.

“Yeah, of course.” Oliver said, trying to hide his disappointment. “Have a good day at work.”

Felicity walked to the door and left, not saying goodbye.

Oliver sighed deeply. He had expected Felicity to be angry with him, sure. He had expected to hear her loud voice. But the silent treatment was so much worse. She could barely even look at him. When Oliver had been told that he was being released he was so happy. He thought that somehow, he had managed to avoid losing Felicity for good. But now he wasn’t so certain.

\----->

Oliver pulled up outside of William’s school. But instead of grabbing his backpack and leaving the car, William turned to Oliver.

“Are you and Felicity getting divorced?” William asked.

Oliver was stunned for a moment then hurriedly replied. “No, of course not. What makes you think that Felicity and I are getting divorced?”

“Dad, I’m not stupid. I know Felicity has been sleeping in the guest bedroom since you came home. She leaves the house early and comes home late. She’s barely said two words to you and avoids being alone with you.”

Oliver really needed to give his son more credit for being so observant.

“Buddy, things are rough right now between Felicity and me. She is angry with me for how everything went down with Diaz and the FBI six months ago. Rightfully so. But couples go through rough patches all the time. Felicity and I will make it through this.” Oliver tried to reassure his son.

“How can you be sure?” William asked.

“Because I have loved Felicity for seven years and after everything that has happened, after how hard we worked to be together, to get married, I am not about to lose her again. Not after I thought I had lost her for good when I was sent to prison. I will fight to make things right with Felicity.” Oliver said.

“You’d better make sure you do Dad. Because I don’t want to lose Felicity either.” William picked up his backpack and got out of the car, closing the door shut.

Oliver essentially just made his son another promise and this one he very much intended to keep.

\----->

Oliver waited in the guest bedroom. It was almost 11:00 pm by the time Felicity opened the door and walked in.

“Oliver, what are you doing here?” Felicity asked, looking both startled and annoyed.

“We need to talk.” Oliver replied.

“Oh, now you want to talk.”

“I deserve that. But Felicity I’ve been back almost a week and I know you said you needed time but I think considering that I was in prison for six months prior to that we’ve had plenty of time to not talk.”

Felicity rolled her eyes and huffed, “Fine, what do you want to talk about? The part where you took a deal with the FBI that ensured that you would spend the rest of your life in prison, leaving me and William alone, or the fact that once again you made a monumental decision that affected me without talking to me about it first?”

Oliver closed his eyes in shame. She was right. He had made a unilateral decision, repeating past mistakes.

“I’m sorry Felicity.” Oliver started. When Felicity refused to even look at him Oliver continued. “I am truly sorry for not talking to you about my decision before going to Watson. But the truth of the matter is that I was desperate. Everything that I had tried thus far hadn’t worked. I needed help. I needed to stop Diaz once and for all. And we were running out of time.”

“So that’s your explanation, your excuse. You didn’t have time to talk to me.” 

“No. There is no excuse for not coming to you ahead of time.” Oliver took a deep breath and looked at Felicity pleadingly. “The real reason I didn’t talk to you about my plan was because I knew that you would talk me out of it. And I didn’t see any other way to stop Diaz. I believed that it had to be this way but I knew that if you asked me not to do it I wouldn’t have been able to refuse you. I wanted to tell you, please believe me. I did. But I just couldn’t see how I was supposed to tell you what I had planned and still be able to go through with it.”

Felicity had tears shimmering in her eyes as she spoke. “That’s not good enough Oliver. We keep having the same argument over and over again. How am I supposed to believe that you won’t ever make unilateral decisions that affect us and our family again?”

“Because I promise you that I will come and talk to you about anything that affects us and our family. I won’t make this mistake again Felicity. I have far too much to lose. And I can’t lose you.” Oliver said.

“All I have ever wanted is for you to let me in Oliver. To include me in your decision making. To lean on me. We’re partners. We’re married. You can’t keep doing this.” Felicity cried.

“I know. I know Felicity and I am so sorry.”

“It wasn’t just the fact that you made this decision without consulting me. It’s that you made my worst fear a reality. I told you the day we got married that losing you is my greatest fear. And you made that happen. I lost you and even though it was only for six months they were six of the worst months of my life. William lost you. So soon after he lost Samantha. And even though I worked every day that you were gone to find a way to get you out there was never a guarantee that I would succeed. I lived every day of the last six months in grief because my greatest fear had come true.” Felicity had tears streaming down her face by the time she finished speaking.

Oliver didn’t think there was anything worse than seeing the look on Felicity’s face when he was arrested and taken away. He was wrong. Seeing his wife now, the hurt and loss so clear on her beautiful face, was the worst thing he had ever seen. And he had put that look on her face.

They stood in silence for what felt like hours. Finally, Oliver broke the silence.

“William asked me today if you and I were getting a divorce.”

Felicity looked up at him startled.

“Is that what you want? Have I broken us irrevocably?” Oliver asked quietly. He was afraid of what Felicity’s answer would be, his fear growing the longer she stayed silent.

With a deep breath Felicity answered him. “No. I don’t want a divorce Oliver. My greatest fear is still the same. I am still terrified of losing you. I am not, and will never, give up on us. But things have to change. You have to include me. Please. I don’t want to have to ask you again.”

“You won’t.” Oliver said, the relief clear in his voice.

“I’m still going to need some time Oliver. Us finally having this conversation doesn’t just automatically fix everything.” 

“I know. And I will spend every day that I am lucky enough to be with you proving to you that you can trust me and that I will treat you as an equal partner. But please Felicity, can we please just go back into our bedroom together and sleep in our bed together?”

Felicity looked hesitant.

“I miss you Felicity. I have missed you every day for the last six months and I don’t want to keep missing you when we’re finally living under the same roof again.” Oliver held his breath while he waited for Felicity’s response. She gave him a slight nod and Oliver thanked every deity that he knew of that his wife was giving him this chance.

They walked to their bedroom in silence and got ready for bed separately. Oliver got in bed first and waited for Felicity to join him. When she did she climbed onto her side of the bed and laid down facing away from him, keeping a lot of space between them. Oliver felt a pang at his chest at the distance that Felicity maintained between them. But this was the first step in the right direction. At least she was here in their room, in their bed, with him.

Oliver was wide awake. He could hear and feel Felicity trying to make herself comfortable. After half an hour of this he saw Felicity turn around and before he knew it she had closed the distance between them. She curled herself around him and laid her head on his shoulder. In the next second he heard a great sob escape her as she clung to him. Felicity was finally releasing all of the anguish that had been building inside her. She had had to be strong for William for the last six months and she was finally allowing herself to let it all go.

And as Oliver tightly held his wife in his arms, kissing the top of her head and whispering soothing words of comfort, he finally felt like he had come home.

**Author's Note:**

> This was just me trying to make sense of Oliver's decision in the season finale. I don't know if the show has any plans to actually address this but this is what I would like to see if they do.


End file.
